Divergent patterns in the mitochondrial and nuclear diversity of the specialized butterfly Plebejus argus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Abstract

Abstract.Plebejus argus is a model species for studying the biology, population ecology and genetics of butterflies. It is patchily distributed throughout most of its European range and considered to be sedentary. Habitats of the butterfly have to encompass two vital larval-resources, i.e. specific food plants and ants, since caterpillars are obligatorily myrmecophilous. The genetic structure of nine P. argus populations (85 individuals) was studied at an intermediate geographical scale (Eastern Poland, diameter of about 400 km) using two kinds of molecular markers i.e. COI (mtDNA) and EF-1 (nuclear gene). Both markers were highly variable with as many as 16 haplotypes and 39 alleles, respectively. Great genetic differentiation in the COI gene was detected (overall FST = 0.411, P < 0.001) but little genetic differentiation in the EF-1 gene (FST = 0.021, P < 0.001). The number of COI haplotypes (ranging from one to seven) and their distribution varied considerably among P. argus populations. The possibility that this heterogeneity was related to Wolbachia was excluded as this endoparasitic bacterium was not detected in samples from any of the populations studied. PCA and SAMOVA analyses divided the sampled populations into two or three groups, which could indicate different colonization routes. Moreover, the differences in genetic differentiation with respect to mtDNA and nuclear markers may suggest male-biased dispersal of P. argus at a larger scale. The hypothesis that females are philopatric is consistent with direct observations of the restricted colonization abilities of the butterfly, while the relatively homogeneous genetic structure revealed by previous allozyme studies in some areas might be explained by the possible higher mobility of males.

Male biased gene flow in banana pseudostem weevil (Odoiporus longicollis Oliver) as revealed by analysis of the COI-tRNALeu COII region

“…Sex biased dispersal has been reported in a number of insects i.e. damselflies (Beirinckx et al 2006), cactophilic Drosophila (Markow and Castrezana 2000), mayfly Callibaetis ferrugineus hageni (Caudill 2003), ant Formica exsecta (Sundström et al 2003), bark beetle Ips typographicus (Sallé et al 2007), carrabid beetles (Lagisz et al 2010), queenless ant Diacamma cyaneiventre (Doums et al 2002), butterfly Plebejus argus (Sielezniew et al 2011) and grasshoppers (Kindler et al 2012). The results of the present study support a male biased dispersal of O. longicollis (Oliver) weevils.…”

“…Such a discrepancy in the results obtained using a mitochondrial marker and nuclear markers can be attributed to sex biased dispersal (Goudet et al 2002). A simultaneous study of two genes which differ in their mode of inheritance makes it possible to assess whether the observed genetic differentiation is due to a bias in dispersal of one of the genders, because male and female insects of several species have been reported to differ in their migratory and colonization behaviour (Roderick 1996;Sielezniew et al 2011). For markers such as the mitochondrial markers which are uni-parentally inherited, the male sex does not contribute to the mitochondrial genome of the off-spring, whereas for nuclear genes such as the rDNA genes which are biparentally inherited, both sexes contribute to the diversity in the progeny.…”

Integrative analyses on Western PalearcticLasiommatareveal a mosaic of nascent butterfly species

“…It must be noted that mtDNA, being maternally transmitted, only reflects the matriline distribution. In many butterfly species, although it is not always the case, males are more active than females, thus more prone to dispersal (Bennett, Pack, Smith, & Betts, 2013; Sielezniew et al, 2011). Accordingly, in an experiment that marked and recaptured specimens of L. megera in different habitat patches, it has been found that males are more prone to disperse to suboptimal patches than females, probably as an evasive reaction to high population densities in optimal habitats (Elligsen, Beinlich, & Plachter, 1997).…”

Contrasting genetic structure of rear edge and continuous range populations of a parasitic butterfly infected by Wolbachia

“…Mitochondrial markers are characterised by much faster lineage sorting rates and more frequent haplotype extinctions than the bi-parental nuclear markers. Consequently, as is widely recognised for many Lepidoptera e.g., [52,53], differentiation in mtDNA among populations is usually much stronger than in nuclear DNA (e.g., EF-1α).…”